Turning leaves for my mother outlaw

[seamlessgem]

It was my MOL's(me and the man are not married, she's not an inlaw, she's an outlaw) 70th birthday over the weekend and having only given myself a month to do it I was very pleased to have finished this in time.

She likes strong colours and happened to turn up to her birthday dinner wearing rusty reds and gold, so when she opened the parcel she matched the quilt! I was really relived as it's always a little daunting picking colours for someone.


Here it is in all it's glory, pinned to my work room wall.
I had a crisis half way through and thought it was all a bit garish(I do love to add a bit of disco sparkle to my quilts), but now I reckon it's all come together OK.
She LOVED it and that's really the only thing that counts.
This is the first time I've tried this sort of random foundation piecing on a quilt. It's cool...
Had to keep the quilting fairly simple. Time was ticking away and I must admit I find the putting colours and designs together part much more interesting than the actual quilting bit.

Appliquéd centre leaves


First time using those curved quilting pins...Fantastic... I used to baste things all together by hand, not any more!

The quilt is about 5' square. Big enough to sit beautifully on the top of her bed or used as a sofa throw, but she said she was thinking of using it as a wall hanging so everyone can see it.

[gannon]

It is gorgeous! Perfect job on the colors, I think.

[onegroovyday]

It is gorgeous! Perfect job on the colors, I think.

yeah, the colors look great together......(and Im not usually an earthtone type gal)............you did a great job

[phoenixfiredesigns]

That is REALLY cool. I love the colors and all the pattern in the fabrics. Nice job.

[BeefKnits]

Did this come from a pattern?  This is gorgeous.  I would love a pattern if you made it or maybe you can tell me where you found the pattern.  Beautiful work and great colors!

[spotnik]

A month?!??!  You made this amazing beautiful piece of art in just a month??  I am so impressed!  It would take me a year or more to make something like this.  And even then I am sure it would not look nearly this good!


*this rocks*

[pinokeeo]

Excellent quilt.  I love the chocolate brown with the leaves.  Good color scheme and great pattern.

[HSG]

Gorgeous! Love the colors, the pattern...everythin g.

[sweetpea001]

I used to call my in-laws outlaws before we got hitched too :-)

Beautiful quilt!    The little metallic bits really give it a sense of motion!

[Padester]

Really pretty!  Great job!

[skankamaggot]

THIS ROCKS!  It is so beautiful!  I love the colors and the large leaves are just amazing!

[Onyxnox]

That is absolutely gorgeous.  I am quite envious of you quilters.  It is an artform I love, but am afraid I would not have the patience for (I am a lazy sewer at best).

I am glad that she would rather display on the wall rather than use it as a throw, it is too beautiful.  I love your choice of fabric, and it is certainly is not garish.  The sparkle makes me think of those perfect fall days where there is that bright sunshine sparkling through the air and bouncing off the beautiful fall leaves.  I would be so absolutely awestruck, and thrilled if someone were to make something like this for me.

[jennieingram]

Really beautiful!  Nice quilting, and good use of color!!!

[Aliped]

This is FANTASTIC! 
Great design and lovely colors - Very nicely done!!

[mambosushi]

The piecing is intricate.  Love the colors and the border is GORGEOUS

[donniesgirl]

It looks fantastic!  And I like a little sparkle in my things too - I don't think it's garish at all.   

[lisadee]

Beautiful! I like the bright leaf different from the others, really stands out wonderfully. Well done!

[penguinade]

Wow this is really pretty!  I really like the colors/fabrics you chose.  I used the same quilt block (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=279921.msg3169091#msg3169091), but your larger blocks are really awesome looking, and the overall effect is so much different!

[RockDragon]

Phenomenal colors, and really awesome blocks!  I do love leaves- I'm going to make a note of this pattern 

[kiyaani_girl]

I love those big leaves so beautiful!

[islandmama]

Since we relocated to St.Thomas, USVI I haven't given much thought to fall leaves. However, you made me remember all the years of jumping in piles of raked leaves with my friends as a child. It's is really beautiful. Everything came together great. (One never really knows how a quilt will really look until it's all together). I was particularly impressed with the way you did the large leaves. Love it. I can't think of anything you could have done better. I really love it.

[craftygal76]

great job! love the colors too!

[Persephone Hazard]

Yes, the colours are gorgeous. I especially love the golden leaf.

[yimi945]

absolutely beautiful

[seamlessgem]

 
wow I'm really glad you all liked it so much. I made the pattern up myself, as it had to be a fast one to get together. So plenty of space between the leaves!
The big leaves are foundation pieced from random strips and the edge was pieced in the same way, as one large strip that I then cut into four, so really fast. The only fabrics I had to buy were the brown sheeting I used for the background and the plain mustard colour in the pale leaf. The rest came from leftovers from my job, result! 
I have been a seamstress for years, making soft furnishings for pretty wealthy people, so some of the stuff in this quilt was over £100 a metre! I can't bear to throw ANY of it away and quilts with strip pieced elements are a great place to put all those little snippets.